Solar Panel for battery top up.

aamcle
aamcle Forum Participant Posts: 23
edited February 2018 in Parts & Accessories #1

Sorry about posting this I'm confident it's been asked but the search engine has strained what little patience I have.

I have a Lunar Venus and I would like to use the mover to bring it out of it's storage location and that requires a charged battery.

What solar options just for battery top up can your recommend?

Ideally I'd like a panel that that sits inside the window if it's posible.

I have a solar panel controller from a previous project, would I need to use it with a small panel?
How are panels connected, to the vans electrics or directly to the battery or to the movers connections?

Many Thanks aamcle

Comments

  • aamcle
    aamcle Forum Participant Posts: 23
    edited February 2018 #2

    I should add the van is a Lunar Venus 550/4.

    The battery is a nearly new 80 amp/hr .

    The distance I need to move it is about it's own length then turn it 90 degrees.

    I isolate the vans electrics when I store it so the only loss to the battery should be that caused by standing.

     

    aamcle

     

     

  • young thomas
    young thomas Club Member Posts: 11,356 ✭✭✭✭✭
    1000 Comments
    edited February 2018 #3

    if you're happy not to have the battery managing any of the caravan electrics (tracker, alarm etc) while in storage, why not just bring the battery home and keep it charged there....

    however, if the battery id sully charged when the ban is parked, then with it being isolated, it should be (pretty much) fully charged when you return to the van....

    or are you saying that ypu may have run it down slightly when parking it?

    if so, bring it home, charge it and take it back full...

    its fairly obvious you are not familiar with how solar works, id not bother, bring the battery home.

  • garry1958
    garry1958 Forum Participant Posts: 10
    edited February 2018 #4

    Hi Aamcle

    I cant comment on the small panels that sit in the window, but I recently fitted a roof mounted 100W panel to my caravan, the kit cost me about £140 from a UK supplier on eBay, and it took me about 2 hours to fit.

    My caravan is parked on the drive, and since the solar panel has been fitted the battery has never been below 13.5 volts, even on dark winter days.

    I also fitted one for my brother in law and he keeps his van on storage with no access to electricity - again his battery is a constant 13v - 14v

    I know it is not everyone's cup of tea to have a panel mounted on the roof - but for the money is well worth the effort

     

  • Simon100
    Simon100 Club Member Posts: 666 ✭
    500 Comments 100 Likes
    edited February 2018 #5

    Just Google 'caravan solar panels' and you will come up with a lot of information/web site and see appropriate threads on this and other forum. 

  • mylo
    mylo Forum Participant Posts: 104
    edited February 2018 #6

    Hi garry1958 is that your solar panel on your roof in pitcher looks really large 

  • lornalou1
    lornalou1 Forum Participant Posts: 2,169
    1000 Comments
    edited February 2018 #7

    don't think that's attached to roof of caravan, looks like something pitched next to it.

  • Phishing
    Phishing Forum Participant Posts: 597
    500 Comments
    edited February 2018 #8

    You need:

    A solar panel

    A controller

    A fuse link

    cable

    Terminals

    soldering iron and solder.

    A test meter.

    The panel has two wires +/-, connect these to the controller in the appropriate place, most are screw terminals so no soldering needed.

    Test with meter to make sure you have correct polarity, the output from the panel in sunlight is usually 14 to 18v (may be higher).

    Connect the output from the controller to the respective +/- terminals on the battery. This best done with ring terminals bolted to the battery clamps.

    The issue with solar panels is that they are low current so make sure you use at least 1mm2 cable or even better 2mm2 and make sure you solder any joints to reduce the resistance of the circuit. Put a fused link in the cable between the +ve output from the controller to the battery +ve terminal, 10A fuse will do.

    I have the controller on the battery box top inside the van, if you need a hole in the battery box for the cables it must have a sealing grommet fitted.

    If you have a motor mover fitted then wire the -ve output from the controller to the power negative on the mover controller, wire the +ve output controller to the permanently connected cable on the isolator switch. No need to drill into the battery box.

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